Memories of a Broken Yesterday
by rakuen wa
Summary: Of Mice and Men. It seems that Lennie and Geroge have been together from the start. But how did they come to be friends? Geroge reveals all in his autobiography.


No one said life was easy an' I got about a hundred stories that prove it. All my life I've had to take care of that dumb ol' fool, Lennie. Can't keep a job for more than a month 'cause of his antics. I always got to deal with bosses who got barely more wits than Lennie. No one said life was fair either. If life was fair then Lennie wouldn't have the mind of a five-year-old. But even if my life's got nothing but idiot after idiot an' running away, I ain't sure I'd trade if for someone else's. 'Cause even though Lennie ain't the brightest guy around, he's always there for me. I wouldn't think of leaving him, 'cause he wouldn't think of leaving me. We got each other, an' that gives us more than anyone else. But why do we got each other? Well, it all goes back to when we was little.

I remember Lennie's Aunt Clara would always watch us at her house. I was an orphan, livin' off what other people "gave" me. I don't remember when I was born. All I know is that I lived in a market near Paso Robles. Livin' all alone with no Ma or Pa made me an angry person. I got into the habit of saying mean things alla time. I remember ever'time I seen Aunt Clara, I'd call her ever' bad word I could think of. But she wouldn't mind nothing I said an' took me home ever'day to feed me 'till I'd escape from the window. That's when I'd meet Lennie. He was jus' like he is now: as naïve and loving as a five-year-old. He would always try an' talk to me about dumb things. I remember I would always beat him up and call him names 'cause he seemed so dim witted. But no matter what, he would always try an' be nice to me. Never really understood why he done it 'till I got older. I used to think he was so dumb he never remembered that if he tried to me nice to me, I'd beat 'em up. He was jus' so different than me that it made me mad. It's like meeting your opposite; ya hate 'em so much, yet ya can't help liking 'em in the end.

After a while we started being friends. I realized he wasn't dumb; he was a poor soul looking for company other than his aunt. Reminded me of me in a way. I was able to tolerate him more and suddenly I came to Aunt Clara's on my own and we started doing ever'thing together.

Then there was a time where we started to drift. Aunt Clara would sometimes bring home torn pages of schoolbooks she said she found near the schoolhouse she wisht she could send us to. She would always try an' teach 'em to us. I never liked 'em 'cause they had weird symbols on 'em that I couldn't understand. But for some reason, Lennie could understand 'em perfectly. He would explain it to me later, but it frustrated me 'cause Lennie always understood it better than me. I tried avoiding coming to Aunt Clara's house for a while and tried surviving on my own again. If Lennie could be book smart, I figured I could at least be street smart.

Then one day some man starts yelling that there's a wild horse on the loose. 'Cause I was so "smart" I thought I could be strong 'an stop this horse that ever'one was so afraid of. That horse was ready to maul me down like there was no tomorra. I guess Lennie went out with Aunt Clara to get some food from the market 'cause all of a sudden I hear, "George, run! He's gonna kill ya!" Seein' him standing there yelling at me jus' made me more determined to stay there. No way was I gonna let Lennie scare me away. I was gonna prove to him that I was better than him at something.

Jus' when I was about to take that horse head on, Lennie pushes me to the side. Lennie gone and got hit by the horse instead of me. When the dust from the road cleared, I remember I seen Lennie's face all bloody an' he was barely conscious. I asked him why he did it an' he says, "'Cause you're my friend. I'd never leave you 'cause you'd never leave me." I felt raindrops on my cheeks that day.

Lennie coulda been a real smart fellow if he didn't havta protect me from my own dumbness. Aunt Clara wasn't mad or nothin'. She was just happy that "Lennie's got a friend he's willing to protect." I must say Aunt Clara is one forgiving lady. She welcomed me in to live with them after that and she never showed no anger for what I'd gone done to her nephew. She put up with Lennie 'till the day she died.

Lennie was never the same after the accident so I decided to take responsibility for him. We spent the rest of our days tryin' to get a job, live in peace with each other, and achieve the impossible dream. That's how it always was and how I thought it'd always be 'till we could buy a house. But God had a different plan, I guess. I owe so much to the two of them. Even though I was mean to Lennie and there were times when he got on my nerves, deep down I know that I could never live life without him.

**Notes: Greetings! I hope you have enjoyed my look into what Lennie and Geroge's past might have been. Comments are appreciated especially constructive criticism, just no flames please. Thanks for reading!**


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